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10 on #Transmedia v6: Spotlight on Anthony Del Col

Sundance Institute
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

As we wrapped up our first-ever New Frontier Story Lab at the Sundance Resort in Utah, we took a few minutes to check in with 10 guests as they checked out on their way home. Our sixth interview is with Anthony Del Col, artist and Creative Fellow to the New Frontier Story Lab. Based on the comic series of the same name, his project Kill Shakespeare is being developed as a feature film, a game, and a theatre experience. He lives and works in Toronto.

1) Do you know what transmedia is, yes or no? Yes.

2) Using only one word, how would you describe it? “Audience-building” - can I get away with a hyphenated word? If not, then simply “storytelling.”

3) Which is more important? Storytelling or Technology? You can only pick one. For transmedia, definitely storytelling. Technology is a tool to tell a story.

4) What do you do? What’s your passion? I am a writer/producer (co-creator – along with Conor McCreery - of Kill Shakespeare, the comic book and transmedia property). My passion is finding a good story and doing whatever I can to find that story as big an audience as possible.

5) What transmedia website, article, project or person are you really excited about right now? I’m really interested in seeing what the creators of “The Hunger Games” do with the franchise. It was a HUGE potential of being a great transmedia property instead of just a book/film/video game franchise. We’ll see what happens with it in the next twelve months.

6) Why do you think it’s taken so long for transmedia to be taken seriously? The concept of transmedia storytelling is still in its infancy so it’s still going to take a while to be completely accepted. There needs to be a true mainstream transmedia breakthrough success story before it’s accepted by a lot of the media industry, who often view it as a “fad” or only theoretical.

7) Who or what first helped you understand it? When did you hear about it for the first time? I first heard about – and started to explore - transmedia when the Wachowski brothers launched the second phase of “The Matrix” - the film sequels, the video games, the anime short film collections. It was at that time I witnessed them creating an entire world with different entry points.

8) Have you been to the Owl Bar on this trip, yes or no? Of course! How could I not? For some reason “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” was playing in my head when I first entered it…

9) What piece of technology could you simply not give up right now? My Blackberry. It’s my best friend / teacher / translator / confidante.

10) What was the most exciting thing that happened to you at the first-ever New Frontier Lab? Getting to know a bunch of new people that inspire and challenge me – fellows, advisors, staff.